1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to escape systems and, more specifically, to a high rise emergency descent system. The high rise emergency descent system is comprised of at least one track fixedly attached a tall building and a device for attachment thereto whereby a person can put on a jumpsuit having an integral harness and descent assembly that will allow the user to attach to the descent track and descend to the ground.
The system is based on providing a descent device that considers the variations of individual weight of the users. Each descent device has a drag brake that controls the rate of descent of the user. The drag brake is comprised of a brake pad under pressure engaging the descent track as the user descends to the ground.
To insure the correct mating between a descent device and a user the descent device is permanently attached to a jumpsuit or other compatible apparel that is donned by the user having an integral harness and descent device attached thereto. The size of the jumpsuit correlates directly to the duty rating of the pressured descent device. Therefore a smaller suit incorporates a lesser pressured brake than a larger suit having a greater pressured brake. Therefore, the descent rate can be equalized for a mixture of individuals by providing a plurality of jumpsuits having a pressured drag brake for that size of individual.
At the point of departure a plurality of various sized descent apparel can be stored and as individuals arrive they would select the appropriately sized garment, don the garment, move to the point of departure, and attach the descent device to the track and under a controlled descent move to the ground.
The descent device also incorporates an additional braking mechanism comprised of a hydraulic piston that moves a brake pad into an engaging position with the descent track. The hydraulic piston has control means attached to the descent device that is user controlled. Therefore, users can effect the rate of descent by engaging the control mechanism for the hydraulic brake.
The descent device is a substantially C-shaped device having opposing channels on the backside that hold and guide the descent device along the descent track. Extending transversely from the descent device are handle grips providing means for a user to hold and steady themselves while traveling along the descent track. The handle grips can incorporate a control mechanism for the hydraulic brake providing means whereby the user can control their rate of descent along the descent track. The brake mechanism has connection means for controlling the application of the brake pads to the descent track using a hydraulic cylinder mounted on the descent device and in fluid connection with a brake pad.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other fire escape devices designed for evacuating a building. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 489,463 issued to Coker on Jan. 10, 1893.
Another patent was issued to Grossmann on Apr. 4, 1905 as U.S. Pat. No. 786,641. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,689 was issued to Bonvin on Oct. 24, 1978 and still yet another was issued on Nov. 14, 1978 to Hatala as U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,172.
Another patent was issued to Graham on Oct. 20, 1981 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,543. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,224 was issued to Jochum et al on Sep. 21, 1982. Another was issued to Vilchek on Sep. 27, 1983 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,349 and still yet another was issued on Feb. 19, 1985 to Milne et al as U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,966.
Another patent was issued to Armstrong on Dec. 16, 1986 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,032. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,782 was issued to Lipinski on Dec. 1, 1987. Another was issued to Darnell et al on Oct. 15, 1991 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,619 and still yet another was issued on May 26, 1992 to Chouest as U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,885.
A portable fire escape comprising a suitable frame, means for suspending a person therefrom, a circumferentially recessed brake wheel or drum journaled in said frame, a cable having one end secured to said brake wheel and adapted to be wound thereon with in said recess, and a flexible band partially encircling the brake-wheel and extending across the recess; said band having one end fixed and the other end secured to an operating lever for tightening the band, substantially as described.
The combination, with the vertical wall of a building structure, of a lift, grooved guides for the lift set into said wall, and lift-ropes connected with the lift and arranged in said guides, substantially as described.
An escape mechanism for enabling a person to escape at any floor of a building, the escape mechanism including a vertically disposed hollow rail and at least one rack disposed within the rail. At least one running and suspension apparatus is adapted to be introduced within the rail, where the apparatus is equipped with support members and includes an engagement portion having at least one pinion. The pinion engages the rack to allow the apparatus to move along the rail only upon rotation of the pinion. The engagement portion includes impeding assemblies having inertial escapement members for hindering the rotation and for slowing the descent of the apparatus by gravity while the engagement portion is engaged within the rail.
A riding emergency or fire escape apparatus mountable interior of a building for delivering an inhabitant exterior of the building for free fall descent to the ground. The apparatus of this invention exterior of the building essentially comprises plate members mounted in a recess provided in the wall of the building or spaced from the wall of the building a few inches so as not to detract from the architecture of the building. A base plate is provided with a vertically extending zigzag track. A cover plate overlaying and planularly spaced from the base plate is formed with a vertically extending lineal track. The passenger transport mechanism is provided with a chair and is mountable interior of the building. Similarly arranged base and cover plates containing zigzag tracks and lineal tracks respectively, are provided at each floor level interior of the building. The tracks of the respective plates align with the corresponding tracks in the fire escape structure exterior of the building through an openable door at each floor level. The passenger transport mechanisms stored at each floor level, comprise a chair connected to a vertically disposed roller trolley frame which is provided with rollers which ride the zigzag track for a slowed down free fall descent while a second roller rides in the vertical track so that the passenger chair is restrained to a lineal vertical descent.
A fire escape apparatus comprises a vertically extending channel member defining a channel into which opens a slot formed between flanges constituting a front wall of the channel member. Rows of staggered projections within the channel are formed by bolts extending between the flanges and a rear wall of the channel member. A harness for supporting a person escaping in the event of fire or other emergency is suspended from a T-shaped support including a cross-piece, and an upright. In use, the cross-piece and upright are introduced into the channel through the slot. A lug on the upright projects through the slot and limits side-side movement as the harness support descends under the weight of the person escaping, the cross-piece co-operating with the bolts to perform a stepping movement.
A rescue for a multi-floor building includes an upright climb rail assembled of profiled rail sections defining two lateral cooling channels and an upright tooth rack extending around the entire length of the rail; a rescue cabin includes a projecting frame insertable into a front guiding slot in the rail and supporting a driving gear engaging the upright tooth rack; the frame of the cabin overlaps safety windows provided on each floor of the building and has an entrance opening facing the windows.
An emergency escape apparatus includes a gear track mounted vertically on an exterior surface of a building. A carriage is provided with guide rollers which engage a guide track oriented adjacent and parallel to the gear track. A gear wheel is rotatably mounted on the carriage and is maintained in positive engagement with the gear track by the guide rollers. The carriage includes automatic brakes which serve to limit the maximum downward velocity of the carriage, and a boatswain""s chair is attached to the carriage to secure one or more persons to the carriage for transport down the outside of the building.
A gravity operated emergency system for a multi-story building is disclosed including an elongate track having a central rack which is disposed along an outside wall of the building. A traveler is provided which moves along the track and has a pinion which rotatably engages the rack. A pair of bearing members engage opposite sides of the track and these bearing members are pivotally attached to the traveler so that as the pinion is brought into contact with the rack the bearing members clear the respective sides of the track and when the pinion is fully engaged in the rack the bearing members are resiliently urged into contact with an inside face of the track. A velocity control mechanism is provided to control the rotational speed of the pinion in the rack, and hence the speed of the traveler relative to the track. During an emergency, the user is received in a harness which is connected to the traveler and the traveler slowly lowers the user to safety along the track.
The present invention contemplates a descent device including a roller having an annular groove about its contact surface, a support structure to which the roller is rotatably attached, a pinion gear rotatably attached to the support structure, a rotor disk directly coupled to the pinion gear, a braking device coupled to the support structure for controlling the speed of rotation of the rotor, a hand held actuator for activating the brake device, and a sling attached to the support structure capable of supporting a person who can control his or her descent by actuating the brake device, enabling a person to escape from a building during emergency conditions. The present invention also contemplates the combination of the above-described descent device and a vertically extending rail-like support track which is fixedly secured to the exterior of a building wall. The track is shaped substantially like an I-beam in which one edge of the I-beam includes a plurality of recesses and projections to form a rack designed to correspond with the pinion gear of the descent device, while the other edge of the I-beam is straight and smooth and is designed to correspond with the roller whose contact surface contacts the smooth edge.
A high-rise fire escape device gravity operated and particularly adaptable for use in high-rise building and modern skyscraper structures as an escape apparatus from any floor of a building for use in the rescue of an occupant who may be trapped and prevented from using the conventional stairways or elevator due to a natural or man-made disaster such as fire, electrical or power failure, building collapse or personal injury of the occupants, etc. The apparatus or device comprises the combination of a vertical skid track member attached to the wall of a building with a skid which is inserted into a guide channel located in the track. The skid track is designed to be attached to either a new or existing building with access to the skid track being available at the outside of the building at predetermined locations, such as, building corners or a plurality of locations intermediate to the corners between the building windows so as not to impede the architecture design of the building. The skid track has a back and guide portion with a plurality of spring loaded or hinged skid track doors which allows the insertion of a skid to which the occupant of a building may be attached. The skid is so designed to allow its movement down the vertical skid track with the occupant attached, with its rate of descent being controlled by a plurality of descent retarders suitably disposed along the skid tracks entire length. The descent retarder is disposed within the back section of the skid track and partially protrudes into the guide channel of said track. As the skid moves down the guide channel of the skid track it comes into fractional contact with the biased plane frictional surface of the plurality of protruding descent retarders disposed along its vertical axis causing the descent retarder to be displaced in horizontal direction perpendicular to direction of the skid movement. The movement of the descent retarders in a horizontal direction is resisted by means just as a plurality of springs interposed between the rear of the descent retarders and the inside the back portion of the skid track. While the majority of the descent retarders are spaced uniformly along the entire length of the vertical skid track, there are some that are placed in a closer or cluster configuration near the end of the vertical skid track to more greatly impede the rate of descent or velocity of the occupant user so as to prevent forceful contact with the ground. During an emergency, a building occupant may put on a harness of any standard construction and attach it to the skid which can easily be inserted into the guide portion of the vertical skid track through any of the plurality of track doors disposed along said skid track.
A controlled descent device is disclosed, including an elongate guide assembly that has an upper portion, a lower portion and a generally helical track that extends from the upper portion to the lower portion. A carriage includes a primary bearing that is engaged with and movable within the track. A harness is secured to the carriage and the carriage is descendible along the track to lower a person fastened in the harness from the upper portion of the guide assembly to the lower portion thereof.
A fire escape device incorporated into new buildings or added on to existing buildings by which occupants of the building may quickly and safely exit from the building in the case of fire or other emergency conditions. The fire escape device includes a vertical track or guide that slidably receives a slide in the form of a backpack attached to each person using the fire escape device. The slide or backpack includes an oscillatable control member that swings back and forth about an axis perpendicular to the track or guide and engages a plurality of stationary pins oriented in staggered spaced relation on opposite side of the guide or track and control members that control the speed of descent of the slide or backpack and the individual supported thereon. An interlock device is provided to control access to the track or guide to insure proper sequential use of this fire escape device by a plurality of individuals. The lower end of the fire escape device includes an angulated discharge chute or ramp or transversely aligned control pins to stop the slide or backpack just prior to reaching a bottom support surface to enable a person to safely use the fire escape device. The arrangement of the components also will stop succeeding users until the lower most user has exited from the fire escape device.
While these escape systems may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.
The present invention is a high rise emergency descent system. The high rise emergency descent system is comprised of at least one track fixedly attached to the exterior of a building and a jumpsuit having an integral harness and descent device connected to the suit by means of a tether that will allow the user to don the apparel having a first preselected drag brake designed for a weight class that is reflected in the size of suit, and, to attach the descent device to the descent track and descend to the ground at a controlled rate. A second brake control is provided for allowing the user more individual brake control during the descent down the building.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide an emergency system whereby occupants of high rise building can be quickly evacuated.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an emergency system having one or more descent tracks fixedly attached to a building.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an emergency escape system for tall buildings having at least one descent track and a point where users can attach to said track for exiting said building.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide an emergency escape system for tall buildings having an apparel device that can be used by individuals to exit the building.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an emergency escape device having a plurality of available garment of various sizes.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an emergency escape device having a plurality of available garment of various sizes having a harness with a descent device attached thereto by means of a tether.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a descent device comprised of a substantially C-shaped module that can be attached to the descent track.
Another object of the present invention is to provide descent device incorporating a drag brake comprised of a pressured brake pad.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a pressured brake pad wherein said pressure correlates to the size of the descent apparel which directly relates to the weight of the user.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a descent device having a hydraulic piston engaging a brake pad that can be used to control the rate of descent of the device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a descent device having control means for engaging the hydraulic brake of the descent device.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide user access to the hydraulic brake pad control means whereby the user can selectively engage the control means to effect the rate of descent of the descent device.
Additional objects of the present invention will appear as the description proceeds.
The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a high rise emergency descent system comprised of at least one track fixedly attached a building and a device for attachment thereto whereby a user can descent to the ground under controlled conditions. The descent device considers the variations of individual weight of the users. Each descent device has a drag brake comprised of a brake pad under pressure that continuously engages the descent track as the user descends to the ground.
To insure the correct mating between a descent device and a user the descent device is permanently attached to a jumpsuit or other appropriate apparel having an integral harness and descent device attached thereto that is donned by the user. The size of the jumpsuit correlates directly to the duty rating of the pressured descent device. Therefore a smaller suit incorporates a lesser pressured brake than a larger suit having a greater pressured brake. Therefore, the descent rate can be equalized for a mixture of individuals by providing a plurality of jumpsuits having a pressured drag brake for that size of individual. The descent device also incorporates an additional braking mechanism that is under user control comprised of a hydraulic piston that moves a brake pad into an engaging position with the descent track thereby users can effect the rate of descent by engaging the control mechanism for the hydraulic brake.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages will appear from the description to follow. In the description reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In the accompanying drawings, like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views.
The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims.